Happy Jake Arrieta Day!
You know the drill: as the road team in a playoff series, splitting the first two games in the other guys’ place is just fine. If the Cubs can win tonight, they do just that, and all is right with the world. If they were to lose tonight … well, let’s not cross that bridge unnecessarily.
Arrieta is coming off his worst start in several months, which says much, much more about his historically incredible second half than it does about how he performed against the Cardinals on an extremely windy day at Wrigley Field. He’s got an extra day of rest, and should come into this one fresh. Just like last night, the conditions should not be overly conducive to offense, so that’ll help.
Of course, the Cubs need some offense themselves, and Noah Syndergaard is no slouch on the other side. They faced him in his big league debut, and handled him all right, but that was a long time ago. He’ll bring serious heat, and quality breaking pitches. He’ll get his strikeouts, for sure. Hopefully, though, his bullpen work a few days ago, and the Cubs’ patience, will wear him down earlier in the game than usual.
Game Info
Chicago Cubs v. New York Mets (NYM leads 1-0), 7:00 CT on TBS.
Game Thread and Series Preview
Your game thread is down there in the comments, so have fun.
The Series Preview lives here.
Starting Pitchers
Jake Arrieta (1.77 ERA, 2.35 FIP, 2.61 xFIP; 4.92 K/BB)
versus
Noah Syndergaard (3.24 ERA, 3.25 FIP, 2.91 xFIP; 5.35 K/BB)
New York Mets Lineup
1. Curtis Granderson, RF
2. David Wright, 3B
3. Daniel Murphy, 2B
4. Yoenis Cespedes, CF
5. Lucas Duda, 1B
6. Travis d’Arnaud, C
7. Michael Conforto, LF
8. Wilmer Flores, SS
9. Noah Syndergaard, P
Chicago Cubs Lineup
1. Dexter Fowler, CF
2. Kyle Schwarber, LF
3. Kris Bryant, 3B
4. Anthony Rizzo, 1B
5. Starlin Castro, 2B
6. Chris Coghlan, RF
7. Miguel Montero, C
8. Javy Baez, SS
9. Jake Arrieta, P